O'Brien meets van Hooijdonk again

Newcastle defender Andy O’Brien will renew acquaintances with Feyenoord dangerman Pierre van Hooijdonk tonight determined not to give him a sight of goal.

The 23-year-old first locked horns with the free-kick specialist as a teenager at Bradford during the Dutchman’s spell with Nottingham Forest, and has reasonably happy memories of the occasion.

“I played against him when I was a 17-year-old – it seems a few years ago now - and the thing that stands out about him is his free-kick taking,” said O’Brien.

“He’s physically a big man as well, and we’ll respect him – but hopefully not too much.

“I think we beat them actually that day. I remember him having a free-kick and the whole crowd was up in arms because they were anticipating him hitting the target.

“It went over, but he’s a good player and he’s playing for his country still, so we’ll have to keep an eye on him.”

Van Hooijdonk underlined the danger he represents from free-kicks with his side’s goal in their 1-1 draw with Juventus last week, and was also on target in a 2-0 league win over De Graafschap at the weekend.

However, O’Brien admits that coming up against a world-class striker is something that quickly becomes an occupational hazard as a Premiership defender.

“You come up against very good strikers week in, week out, and van Hooijdonk’s just another one,” he said.

“I say just another one – he’s a very good player, but in their own right, they’re all class players.

“We’ll go into the game treating him the same as anybody else, but we’ll have to get stuck in.”

United’s second Champions League Group E game comes after their 2-0 loss in Kiev last Wednesday night and they will be desperate to open their account against last season’s UEFA Cup winners.

That will be no mean feat, but with Italian giants Juventus to come in Turin next week, Bobby Robson and his players know that a victory to follow up their derby success against Sunderland is a must tonight.

“It gives you a better chance if you can win your home games,” said O’Brien. “You can always lose at home and go and get a result away at Juventus, which isn’t the ideal way to do it, but you never know.

“We got some fantastic results last season and, on our day, I think we’re a match for anybody.

“Feyenoord are a big club in their own country and Holland have a very good side nationally. They have a style of play and the fact that they won the UEFA Cup last season shows that they’re no mugs.”

United go into the game on a high after Saturday’s result but knowing that they are yet to return to the rich vein of form which brought them such success last season.

However, O’Brien is confident that the same application they showed against Peter Reid’s side can see them through once again.

“The principles are the same,” he said. “If all the players close their opposition down, you’ve got half a chance, and then we can start playing.

“The ability in the team is undoubted. We produced it last season and it’s the same players just about.

“Sometimes we maybe haven’t been closing down as much as we should have done, but I think on Saturday, we were back to something like it.”